I want you to turn away business. That may seem insane. But, if you are selective about your clients, you will be grateful later. The clients you work with can set you up for Facebook advertising success.
Or, of course, failure. You want clients who make your success more likely. In some cases, that success will be an uphill battle, if not impossible.
Your clients will vet you as a contractor or consultant. You, too, should vet them. Let’s discuss the key items to consider.
Factors Outside of Your Control
There are many factors that you can’t control that will immediately make your life as a Facebook advertiser easier or harder.
INDUSTRY: There are some industries that are problematic. Facebook ad policies will make running ads impossible, or at least difficult. Consider whether you want to consider such a situation.
Some industries are also much more difficult than others to find success than others. It doesn’t mean running ads for them is impossible or even not worth the challenge. But keep it in mind.
Other industries are made for Facebook ads. Whether it be ecomm businesses (especially with their own website) or entertainment (passionate and engaged followers), some industries are easier than others to drive results.
BRAND REPUTATION: Is it a new business or an established one? If established, do they have a positive reputation or a negative one?
If a new brand, your client will need to have patience to get it off the ground first. They will be partly responsible for that. And if the brand has a bad reputation, that will immediately work against you and potential results.
An established or hot brand, on the other hand, makes your life a whole lot easier from the start. It doesn’t mean that it’s not a fun challenge to help MAKE a brand hot, but know that challenge going in. And you alone can’t be held responsible for that.
PRODUCT QUALITY: If a potential client’s product is garbage, there is nothing you can do about it. Bad reviews, bad quality, or bad pricing, a bad product will make your life more difficult.
Meanwhile, you’re much more likely to reach goals and expectations selling a product that people actually want to buy.
COMPETITION: It’s one thing if the potential client is at the top of the mountain in a competitive industry. It’s another if they are at the bottom.
Again, it’s a challenge and not one you should immediately turn away. But understand the impact of competition when establishing expectations.
Interview the Potential Client
This isn’t just about the client making sure that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re a good fit. You should interview the potential client, too. There are red flags that, if there are enough of them, will negatively impact your results.
You should do your research and ask several questions.
What’s the Website Like?
You’re likely going to be tasked with sending people to the website to convert. If the website is terrible, it doesn’t matter how good your ad is. You won’t get results.
Who is responsible for it? How is it constructed? How much website traffic do they get? How often is the content updated? What resources are committed?
Ideally, the website is not only well-done but gets regular, consistent traffic. The more relevant traffic it gets without your involvement, the stronger the remarketing audiences will be for you.
A stale, static, unprofessional website won’t help you. A fast, dynamic, active, functional website will.
What is the Pixel Situation?
If you’re going to drive people to the website, it’s important the pixel is set up properly and that standard and custom events are being used. While you can certainly get that set up, it’s not only a project that will take up your time, it means starting from scratch in the beginning. It helps if Facebook has been receiving activity for some time before you arrive.
At a bare minimum, the base pixel code needs to be on every page. Purchase events with parameters set up for all products. CompleteRegistration events set up for all opt-ins. But, it would also help to have ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, Search, Contact, and any and all relevant events set up as well.
What About the Conversions API?
This will show you how sophisticated the client and their prior advertising staff have been. If the Conversions API is not set up, this will be one of your initial projects. It will be important since you’ll be measured on results, and you want Facebook to receive the data necessary to give you credit.
What About the Email List?
This is often overlooked by advertisers, but a strong email list can improve your results. Not only because it gives you a targeting audience to start with, but because it can work hand-in-hand with your efforts.
How big is the email list? Who is responsible for email marketing? How was it built? How often is it cleaned up? What do nurture sequences and follow-ups look like? How often are subscribers sent an email? These things matter to you — A LOT.
Maybe you reach a potential customer before they get an email. They don’t act on your ad, but they act on the email. That will be counted as a conversion in Ads Manager, assuming it occurred within a day of seeing the ad (or seven days of clicking it).
A good advertiser makes email marketers look good and a good email marketer looks advertisers look good. It’s a partnership.
What Do the Social Channels Look Like?
Who is responsible for running them? How often are they updated? How big are the audiences?
If the Facebook and Instagram pages are well-established and well-run, you immediately have a better chance at success. Not only can you reach those who engage with these accounts, but organic engagement and social proof should be more of a factor.
Why Are They Looking for an Advertiser?
Was it previously handled in-house? Had they hired a consultant who wasn’t getting results? How many have they tried? What results were they seeing?
Get a sense of what’s been going on. If you’re the first advertiser, you’ve got a lot of groundwork to do first. If you’re one of many, it’s possible that it’s not the advertiser that is the problem.
If the prior advertiser couldn’t hit expected benchmarks, try to find out what those benchmarks were. Were they reasonable?
What Resources Are Available?
Will imagery and videos be made available to you, or will you be responsible for creating it? Is there a social media manager who will be responsible for creating content with whom you can work? What resources are on staff for copywriting? Or will it be your responsibility only?
And, maybe most importantly, what budget will be available to you?
How Much Freedom Are You Given?
Will your expertise be trusted? Or will you be watched closely, micromanaged, and told how to do your job? The hope is that you’re given full freedom to do your job, but access to resources that can make your job easier.
What Does Success Look Like?
First, what do THEY think success looks like? Is it realistic? Is it achievable?
You should also start setting some basic guidelines on the metrics that you will be looking at. Don’t get lost in metrics that the client cares about but ultimately don’t matter.
Keep it simple. Focus on primary KPIs. Don’t complicate things.
Establish Short and Long-Term Goals
Depending on the client, what is possible in the first 30-90 days may be far different than what you can expect in six months or a year. It all depends upon how well that client sets you up for success.
Make it clear that there are short and long-term goals. It’s a process. You won’t see the fruits of your labor immediately. Some patience will be needed, but you also have certain expectations that you have that you expect to deliver.
From the start, look at it as a long-term commitment. If the potential client is only worried about a launch that happens in three weeks, this may not be a good long-term prospect.
Are They Willing to Be Educated?
Help them understand the potential challenges you are up against. It could be any of the items listed so far. Or help them understand how iOS 14 has impacted advertisers.
Are they stubborn? Do they see these things as excuses? It will impact how they view your results and whether it’s a good fit.
Set Yourself Up for Success
Challenges are good. It’s not that you shouldn’t ever work with a client who has a new business, fewer resources, or is in a difficult industry. The most important thing is that not only do you understand the challenges that prevent your success, but the client does. Everyone needs to be on board with what is realistic and what is achievable.
If you find such a client, they will help you achieve great results. That leads to happy clients. And it makes it more likely that you’ll be able to find new clients on the back of that success.
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Your Turn
Anything you’d add to this list?
Let me know in the comments below!